Why Creative Circle was the right choice for The Bermuda Sun

It's hard to imagine how we could made a better choice for our redesign than Creative Circle.

– Tony Williams, managing editor, The Bermuda Sun

Working with Creative Media Circle has been an outstanding success.

Our paper, the Bermuda Sun, was in dire need of a fresh look but like many relatively small operations, the resources were limited. Bill and Jennifer quickly tuned into our dynamics and came up with proposals that were both appealing and achievable.

One of the key reasons the process was so successful was that in the early stages, every member of the staff, without exception, was given the opportunity to express their views and ideas. As we narrowed down the various options, the managers came together in a collaborative setting to finalize the new look. Each step of the way, Bill and Jennifer were patient and flexible and willing to tweak and change aspects of the design until even the smallest details were ironed out.

The Creative Circle team had gone to the trouble of getting to know our market, our key personnel and even our readers. They managed to incorporate design aspects that reflect the lifestyle and aspirations of the people of Bermuda.

The result is a clean, modern, crisp and progressive look. The paper is easier to read and navigate, photo quality and writing have improved and even the tone and approach to stories have been enhanced. Our goal is to engage readers on a personal level with lucid writing, photos bursting with life and a mix of light and heavy subject matter. The redesign will help us to build on our strengths and improve in areas of weakness.

Both Bill Ostendorf and Jennifer Boucher are a delight to work with. They are superb listeners and they attune themselves very swiftly to the personal dynamics between newspaper staff members. Going way beyond their remit, they actually helped, at the Bermuda Sun, to build bridges between key people with long histories of distrust. You can't fake this level of involvement - they genuinely care about their clients.

Bill has an uncanny ability to criticize weaknesses in a constructive way and to unearth hidden talents. He talks to people with authority and respect and in turn, people warm to him very quickly. Jennifer Boucher put us all to shame with her Quark wizardry! Not only is she super quick, she also has a keen artistic eye and a journalist's sensibilities.

It's hard to imagine how we could made a better choice for our redesign than Creative Circle. They have helped elevate our product to an exciting level and as I write this, on launch day, the early feedback is overwhelmingly positive. There's no question in my mind that we will increase readership as a direct result of our redesign.

Renamed The Rhode Island Catholic, the redesign launched on an accellerated schedule requested by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who had recently been named to the post. He thought the name change needed to be made as soon as possible. The print redesign was followed by the launch of a new web site two months later.